LOVE Squeezed within the midst of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (chapter 13 to be exact)…and his list of symptoms of the carnal mind…and his corrections and instructions, is a phenomenal chapter. This chapter is oft-quoted and most beloved. As a matter of fact, it is often referenced or quoted verbatim at the majority of wedding ceremonies. You guessed it, the famous “love chapter.” Following twelve chapters of stated symptoms and attempts at correction, Paul makes a sudden transition in 12:31 (NKJV), “And yet I show you a more excellent way.” Note the words, “a more excellent way.” The original Greek word for “more excellent” is huperbole’. It literally means “to throw beyond, to greatly surpass the targeted mark.” What word does this sound like in our English language? Hyperbole, which means “an extravagant exaggeration.” The word for “way” is the Greek word odos which means road or journey. But it was also used to mean “a way or manner of thinking, feeling, or deciding” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon). So Paul is informing the Corinthian church members that he is now going to share with them (and to us) the directions to a decidedly far, far more blessed path or life journey. He will now reveal a way of thinking, feeling, and deciding that greatly surpasses their old carnal, selfish, unspiritual way of living.“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal” (I Corinthians 13:1, NKJV). He goes on to share details of this superior way of thinking and living by describing the characteristics of true, godly love. This chapter stands brilliantly in stark contrast to the remainder (before and after) of the book of I Corinthians which directly highlights their unspiritual and prideful approach to life (I Corinthians 13:4-8, NLT):Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

CONCLUSION Wow! What a sudden and needed breath of fresh air. While the Apostle Paul attempts to expose their carnal minds by listing their symptoms and provide instead a godly perspective, he abruptly bursts forth into a way of thinking, believing, acting, and speaking that is far superior to their fleshly, arrogant, self-serving thoughts, ways and lifestyles. And it begins, continues, and ends with genuine, God-like love…love for God and love for others.Love conquers all. Love never fails. Love overcomes vanity and conceit. Any spiritual gift utilized without love is worthless. Anything we sacrifice in life that is not born from a heart of love for God and others is a waste. Love is the constant catalyst in the process of transformation from a fleshly, unspiritual mind into the mind of Christ. It is the progression and eventual replacement of “the love of self” with first and foremost “the love of God,” and second, “the love of others.”

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